


are you my lobster?

by enbyofdionysus



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Office, Alternate Universe- No Supernatural, Aromantic, Asexual Relationship, Halloween, Halloween Costumes, M/M, Office Party, Queerplatonic Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-16
Updated: 2018-12-16
Packaged: 2019-09-20 09:07:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17019822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/enbyofdionysus/pseuds/enbyofdionysus
Summary: bethecowboii asked: I had thought of Jercy as co-workers (or sth) that go to the work Halloween party in matching costumes, and there's mutual pining af





	are you my lobster?

**Author's Note:**

> Posting here as part of the Big Tumblr Purge

Jason could have worn a different costume, but in his own defense it was almost 30 degrees outside and his outfit was, at the least, work appropriate.

Also, it was part of his plan.

Jupiter Ltd’s Halloween Extravaganza wasn’t really an extravaganza as much as it was a group of 20 to 30-year-olds attempting to drown themselves in alcohol as inconspicuously as possible around their 40 to 50-year-old bosses in an 800-square-foot room. 

Departments would blend among friends and then separate again to gossip before merging together once again like ocean tides. Jason arrived in the middle of a blending moment and was grateful for it. The hilarity on Hazel Levesque’s face when Jason found her relieved his nerves.

Where was Percy?

“What,” cried Hazel, “is  _that_?”

She indicated his horrifically large, horrifically red, and horrifically foam lobster costume. Hazel herself was dressed in one of her normal work outfits: a black fit and flare dress with a purple statement necklace. The only difference now was the witch had perched on her head. A wine glass was in her hand, still mostly full.

Jason gave a crooked smile, only a little embarrassed. “You like it?”

“I thought you were going to be a police officer,” said Hazel, laughing. “Or a firefighter. Or– something with booty shorts. Not  _this_.” She laughed again and her wheeze-cackle was so infectious it made Jason laugh as well.

“I’m trying to make a point,” he said. He tried to pick up a beer with a lobster claw. It was slippery, but he managed.

“That you go well with butter?” Hazel asked.

They shifted around a little to find a more secluded corner as more people arrived. There were vampires and witches, superheroes and hippies. 

Jason heard bits of conversations he didn’t really care about. He worked in Jupiter Ltd’s HR Department for 40 hours a week with overtime; he didn’t want to talk about work off the clock. 

His eyes searched the crowd. He found Annabeth and Frank, then Leo in an unfortunately short police costume. Jason was suddenly very happy to be a crustacean.

And then he saw him.

Percy Jackson was making his way across the room in a pair of bright yellow rubber overalls and a black t-shirt. His black curls hugged his face, pushed down by a hideously brown trucker cap.

“Why would you go as a fisherman?” Jason had asked with a laugh the other week in the copy room. Percy had been printing invitations to the Halloween party on glossy paper and it was taking ages.

Not that Jason had minded.

Percy Jackson had been one of the reasons why he’d accepted his job at Jupiter Ltd to begin with, which may have sounded creepy without the context that Jason had had a squish on Percy Jackson since his Junior year of College and, truthfully, he knew if Percy Jackson worked at a particular company then that company would most certainly be as queer-friendly as he desperately needed his workplace to be.

Long story short: Jupiter Ltd had terrible insurance, but was definitely queer-friendly, Jason had worked there for nearly three years, and Percy still had no idea that Jason desperately wanted to…

There was no word for it.

Jason simply  _wanted_.

In College, Percy had been vocal and loud and angry and tore down traditionalist thinkers and at Jupiter Ltd, Percy was vocal and loud and angry and tore down traditionalist thinkers over cocktails on Fridays while he struggled to finish a project for the Graphics Department head on a scratched and dented tablet.

Percy had given a half-hazard shrug, squinting at the cut lines on the pages as the copier spat out the invitations. “I figured it would work with my tattoos and all,” he’d said, indicating the American Traditional ocean swirls and fish and monsters on his toned, brown arms as if Jason needed a reminder that he was beautiful. “Besides, it’ll be ironic,” he said.

“Ironic?” Jason had asked.

“Yeah,” Percy said and for a second Jason could have sworn Percy’s eyes held his for longer than necessary. Longer because– “Because I’m looking for my lobster.”

Jason’s heart had tripped over itself.

It was the discussion they’d had when he’d first started working there. Percy had asked him over a plate of macaroni salad if he could ever see himself getting married one day. And Jason had both awkwardly and self-consciously admitted out loud that he was very much aromantic and very much asexual. He had waited for the questions or the staring or the confusion, but Percy had simply asked, “Would you still want a partner though?”

Jason had answered, “I would want a lobster I guess.”

A mate for life.

Percy had stared at him for a moment too long and, just before it became awkward, asked Jason if he could have his pickle.

And now here they were.

Across the room at a godawful Halloween party.

Dressed as a fisherman.

Dressed as a lobster.

Jason saw Percy before Percy saw him. His nerves rattled horribly. 

Please, he thought as he watched Percy’s eyes find his costume, then his face.

 For once, he wanted to lie in his bed at night and not be alone. For once, he wanted to look over at someone and smile and see them smiling back. For once, he wanted to be with someone without the overwhelming fear that soon they would want to–

Percy’s eyes found his eyes.

The smile on his face was replaced with something between mirth and awe.

“Are you for real?” Percy asked when he was near enough.

Jason could smell his cologne on him, all cedarwood and spice. “That depends on you,” he replied. It was ballsy and awful and he should have gone as something else. He should have waited for a night when they were alone, when Percy was bundled up in three sweaters and muttering about the cold. He should have waited when he’d had Percy over for a drink, when they’d watch a movie together. Any other time but this.

But Percy’s eyes were golden.

He was smiling, bright and dazzling and wide.

And then he took Jason’s embarrassingly large claw and pulled him close.

Their foreheads pressed together and then their noses.

“Took you long enough,” Percy whispered.

Jason’s heart was going to beat out of his chest.

And then Percy pulled away, his eyes sparkling with something something something.

For once, Jason thought.  _For once_.


End file.
